Gastrointestinal carcinoma and sarcoma surgery

Abstract

A number of advances in both earlier diagnostic imaging and better treatment options for patients with intra-abdominal malignancies have occurred. Frequently such newer therapies rely on the integration of established surgical and radiation approaches potentially with newer chemotherapies and immunomodulators. Unfortunately, with further study some newer therapies have proven less beneficial than initially suggested. Keeping up with the data supporting newer alternatives, and determining which therapies to provide patients can be a challenge. Nonetheless, integrating newer study data into beneficial therapeutic algorithms and understanding the molecular basis and rationale for new therapies remains a critically important role for treating physicians. To help provide busy clinicians and trainees with a current update for the management of intra-abdominal malignancies, this special issue of Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology provides succinct reviews relevant to both diagnosis and treatment for patients with abdominal sarcoma or adenocarcinoma.